Mariners 5 Yankees 2: Jeter Makes History as Yankees Descend Into the 4th (Place) Dimension

Before getting to the down of today’s 5-2 loss–and it sure is down–Derek Jeter made history today, tying Babe Ruth on the Yankees’ all-time hit list with 2,518.  With his first inning solo homer, he also drove in his 1,000th career run.  These are really tremendous accomplishments for Jeter, who has not had his greatest year by any means.  Yet there he sits tied for second with the legendary Babe Ruth, arguably the greatest baseball player and figure of all time, for second on the Yankees’ hit list.  There he is with 1,000 RBIs.  Hats off to Jeter, the greatest Yankee shortstop of all and an all-time great Yankee.

That said, unfortunately the Yankees failed on multiple fronts today.  They failed to see Mussina win his 18th game of the year, as he allowed two homers and four runs in six innings.  They failed to hit, not getting a hit after the fourth inning until one out in the ninth against a guy in lefty Feierabend–there’s the trick, a young, struggling lefty rarely seen by major-leaguers who still hit him to the tune of a 6.53 ERA–until today, when he went seven innings and, after allowing two runs, lowered his ERA a full run against the vaunted Yankees offense.  They failed to win a series against the worst team in the AL.  Disgraceful, and kudos to Syzyn Waldman for going off on the poor Yankees hitting today during the broadcast.  She echoed what we have all long felt.

Nady added his 23rd homer of the year in the second, a solo shot way out to deep left to make it 2-0.  But Beltre’s two-out, two-run homer in the third tied it.  The Yanks blew a golden opportunity to take the lead back in the fourth when Nady walked and Matsui doubled with one out, second and third.  Yet Cano fanned, really the key failure of the inning, and Molina drove a ball to deep left center that was caught, ending the threat.  Right away, as if to run the Yanks’ failure in their collective nose, Lopez led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo homer, 3-2 Mariners.  In the fifth, the Yanks screwed up again when Jeter walked with one out and A-Rod walked with two, but A-Rod was picked off first and, to give A-Rod a shot and getting out of it, Jeter ran to third and was tagged out, but the gaffe was all A-Rod’s.  Again the Mariners scored right away after a Yankees’ blown chance, when Ichiro bunted his way on and took second on Mussina’s throwing error, went to third on Reed’s 4-3 and, after Beltre walked, Ibanez the Yankee killer singled in Ichiro, 4-2 Mariners.

The Yanks mustered no more hits until the ninth, when it was 5-2 after Lopez’s second homer of the game in the eighth off Veras.  Giambi was hit by a pitch, Nady forced pinch runner Ransom at second, Matsui singled, but again Cano fanned in the clutch as did Betemit pinch-hitting for Molina.  5-2 Mariners and, with Toronto’s win, the Yankees descended into fourth place, a half-game behind Toronto.  How far the mighty have fallen.

Jeter’s 2-3 day filled with personal and team history moved his average up to .297, Nady’s 1-3 with the solo homer moved his average to .315, Matsui continues to hit well by going 2-4, batting .308.  But #3-5–Abreu, A-Rod, and Giambi–went a combined 0-10, in stark contrast to their Seattle counterparts Beltre, Ibanez and Lopez who went 6-11 with 3 runs and 5 RBIs.  JD was 0-4 and, though he has had a very good year, is mired in a 1-21 slump, including 0 for his last 18.  Cano’s two strikeouts were costly.  Mussina was decent, but the two homers hurt his cause every bit as much as the disappearing offense.  Coke pitched a scoreless seventh, continuing his good work.

Do more than say good-bye to the playoffs Yankees fans–if you haven’t already. Try to stay patient as the Yankees fight for third.  At the start of this year, I never thought I’d have to write that in early September, but there it is–a cold, hard reality.  At least the Bills beat Seattle 34-10 today.